Exploration vs. main plot: how did you do it? - by Thirith
Thirith on 10/3/2010 at 08:23
I'm currently 3-4 days into Fallout 3 and (after an initial feeling of déjà Oblivion) I'm enjoying the game a lot. I don't know, though, whether I should follow the main plot or wander off into the wastelands to explore and mop up side quests. I took a break from the Galaxy Radio quest in order to shoot me some fire ants, and right now I'm wandering westwards from Arefu to check out the points of interest.
How did you play the game: did you follow the main plot, did you pretty much forget about it and go off exploring, or did you mix the two? Which did you enjoy most: freeform exploration or following the "Dude, where's my dad?" storyline?
David on 10/3/2010 at 09:01
Mainly I mixed the two, focussing more on the exploration and side quests, rather than the main story. This was because, at the time, Broken Steel hadn't been released and I knew that once you completed the main story that was that.
I recently played it again with Broken Steel installed and progressed quite a way through the main story fairly quickly and did the side quests as and when I came across them.
PeeperStorm on 11/3/2010 at 02:30
First time I played it I started out by stepping out of the vault door, going "Ooh, shiny!", and immediately forgetting about the main quest. I wandered off to the west and accidentally skipped over the first half of the main quest by exploring the wrong place. Oops.
After replaying a number of times, the way I approach the game now depends entirely on the character that I've made. For a character that uses energy weapons I speed through the main quest until The Enclave shows up, then switch to exploring for a good long time. For stealthy characters I work on getting negative Karma at first so I can "obtain" one of those lightweight Regulator dusters, and then start the main quest. And so on.
I've been thinking of doing a run where I completely ignore the main quest, which is what I started to do the first time.
Jashin on 11/3/2010 at 05:14
Enjoy the wandering while you can, cus after you solve the main plot you'll realize really fast how pointless wandering around is then.
Thirith on 11/3/2010 at 07:05
Does the wandering reward you with lots of little side quests, or do you mostly find little points of interest without NPCs? Most of the exploration I did yesterday just led me to abandoned places (atmospheric in their own right, but not quite enough to keep me going in the long run) and Raiders settlements.
Thirith on 11/3/2010 at 10:17
Thanks. I don't need all of the places I explore to hold a plethora of subquests, but I'd get somewhat frustrated if all I found was stashes and Raiders.
gunsmoke on 11/3/2010 at 19:24
Is that link busted, or is it just Chrome choking again?
Anyway, I started off heading towards the main plot, but the world is much, much more interesting to me. I am currently level 24, and just recently finished Scientific Pursuits, did the B/W simulation, and met dear ol' dad back @ Rivet City.
Matthew on 11/3/2010 at 19:27
It's busted.
Pyrian on 11/3/2010 at 21:58
It looks like it got censored. :p
